IWC Meeting: The South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary Harpooned Again

VIDEO: IFAW’s IWC Team Leader, Matt Collis relates our Delegation’s disappointment at the failure of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary proposal to pass with a three quarters majority vote at the 66th IWC meeting in Portorož, Slovenia.

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Today, at the second day of plenary meetings at the 66th International Whaling Commission in Portorož, Slovenia, a proposal from Latin American countries to form a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary again failed to pass with the needed three-quarters majority vote.

At the conclusion of the voting session, Matt Collis, IFAW IWC Team Leader said,

“It is very disappointing that once again, a proposal for a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary has been harpooned. A sanctuary in this region would have provided strong protection to a wide range of whale and dolphin species. A victory for this proposal would have sent a clear signal that the IWC is capable of becoming a truly modern day conservation body for whales instead of an old whalers’ club.

“Non-lethal whale research in this area has already provided valuable data on whales and a sanctuary would have built on this further, giving us far more useful and precise information than has ever been gained from so-called scientific whaling.”